


respite

by mukaismom



Category: Fire Emblem Echoes: Mou Hitori no Eiyuu Ou | Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia
Genre: Fluff, Gen, Light Angst, familial leon is good leon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-30
Updated: 2018-01-30
Packaged: 2019-03-11 11:01:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 966
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13522872
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mukaismom/pseuds/mukaismom
Summary: Leon wants Genny to experience childhood, if only for a moment.





	respite

_Genny_ , Leon thinks as he reads the 121st page of her manuscript, _is a very persistent child_.

“--and then she finds this man in the cave. And he’s tall and looks like he used to be strong, but he hasn’t eaten in, like, a week, so she gives him some of his bread. So--”

“Genny, that sounds great, but I really can’t read and listen at the same time,” Leon says.

“Oh, sorry.” Her voice quiets as she worries her shirt sleeve. “I don’t mean to get so caught up, it just kinda… happens.”

“And that’s fine,” he says and sets his quill down. “Just decide for the moment: Do you want me to keep editing, or do you want me to listen to you?”

There’s a long pause as she considers. Her abundance of ideas, Leon thinks, must make it doubly hard to make decisions.

Leon would be lying if he said spending a great deal of time with a 15-year-old wasn’t emotionally draining, but he’d also be lying if he said Genny wasn’t his favorite 15-year-old in the army. Or if he said her stories weren’t engaging, or claimed they weren’t the exact sort of thing he already read in his free time, and that emotional drainage via enthusiastic child with similar interests was something he was perfectly alright with.

Genny’s eyes remained narrowed in thought when he looks back. “Do you want me to decide for you?” Leon asks. She nods.

“Alright, tell me about your plans. Do I sense future romance?” Leon teases.

Genny’s face goes red and Leon tries not to laugh. One time Clive kissed Mathilda on the cheek in the dining hall and she couldn’t look either of them in the eye for a week.

“M-maybe,” Genny says. “--but! First...okay, so she finds that man in the cave. And he’s a little awkward because he hasn’t spoken to people in ten years, because he was exiled from his town, and he’s been on the move since. But he’s nice, and he helps her forge that magic sword--he’s a blacksmith, I forgot to say that--”

Genny could talk for hours about this. Leon knows because he has, in fact, been there for hours. There are a few plot twists he doesn’t understand, and one unnecessary character, but he’ll save those critiques for when she’s actually written it. She has that happy glow on her face that he really just doesn’t want to ruin.

“It’s sounding wonderful,” Leon says. “I especially love the part where Ginerva and Fen kiss--”

“Leon!” Genny blushes again.

He grins. “What did I do? You’re writing it.” He tries not to snort as her face reddens even more. “Alright, alright, I won’t tease you.”

Genny pouts a little, but as usual, it never lasts. When Leon is about to leave (lunch with Valbar; he’d promised), she grabs him on the sleeve.

“Uh, Leon?” There’s a pause, and she won’t look him in the eyes. “I, uh, wanted to braid Celica’s hair, but the last time, I messed up really bad. There was this huge strand just hanging out, and...well, that doesn’t matter. But I can’t practice with my hair--it just doesn’t stay. I think it’s just too puffy? I don’t know. But, what I guess I’m asking is, uh...can I braid your hair?”

Leon stares at her, eyebrows raised. Of course he’ll say yes.

There’s that man from the mountain village, Atlas. He joined the army, Valbar told him, because his brothers were kidnapped by that pirate. He’s never spoken to Atlas personally, but Valbar gets along with him quite well in a way Leon thought he would never understand.

They share the prides of their families, how Atlas’ younger brother taught him the alphabet (though little he must use it), and how he baked the best bread in the village. They speak of Valbar’s daughter the magic fiend, who learnt her first spell at the age of five, the wit and learnedness of his wife, and the way his daughter took right after her.

They shared dumber things, as well; how another of Atlas’ brothers built a slingshot and hit him in the eye with an acorn, Valbar’s daughter challenging her brother to a duel with a stick. The time she froze the river over in summer and blamed it on a passing cat.

It was sweet, undoubtedly, usually funny and occasionally sad, if you listened long enough into the evening. But he’s never understood the feeling that came with speaking of family.

Attachment to friends and lovers he knows well--devotion, desire for them to have the best. It’s similar in many ways, but there’s a something missing. Leon thinks, maybe, it’s that feeling Valbar described when his daughter ran off into a crowd or burnt herself learning a dangerous spell. That feeling Valbar had before she returned from “running away”. Leon hasn’t experienced it, but looking at Genny, he feels like he might.

With a friend, it’s different. He and Valbar both know they can rely on each other. If one is hurt, the other will be there to heal. But children aren’t supposed to have your back. They’re supposed to be nurtured, protected, taught. Set off into the world with confidence and a smile, so they can be there for others, just like he and Valbar are there for each other.

But in front of him sits a child who’s seen death, who would kill for him even if he asks her to stay hidden and safe, who _has_ killed for him and others. And here she is, asking to braid his hair and tugging on her sleeve hem. Leon pats her head, wonders if that’s too condescending when she frowns, and finally says aloud, “of course.”

**Author's Note:**

> anyone remember the magic wand thing from barbie and the magic of pegasus bc as I was makin up gennys story all i could think of was that scene in the cave where that dude welded the wand and that stone. so basically i just replaced the wand with a sword lmao.


End file.
